Iranian leaders are warning the United States that tough talk and threats are pointless; that Iran is so powerful they will pursue their revolutionary mission no matter what we do or say, that their efforts are blessed by Allah.

But it’s all bluster -- and the Iranian people know it.

The rent-a-crowds, which have a high proportion of military men, are not really prepared to directly challenge the United States. The marches, chants, and posters are not so much for our consumption as for that of their own citizens, most of whom are disgusted with the failed regime and yearn for a return to the Western world. The regime fears that, sooner or later, the tens of millions who detest Khamenei, Rouhani, et al., will flood the streets as they recently did on the occasion of the funeral of Hashemi Rafsanjani, chanting anti-regime and anti-Russian slogans.

Today’s “festivities” are designed to keep the Iranian people in their oppressed places -- and mass hangings and torture underline their real targets.

The regime is intensely worried that the Trump team is preparing serious action.The mullahs know that if America moves, most Iranians will try to bring down the regime.

As luck would have it, another Persian anniversary arrives next month: Nowruz, the Persian new year, whose origins lie in the country’s Zoroastrian past. The radical Muslims who rule the Islamic Republic have always disliked these celebrations -- the most famous of which features jumping through bonfires -- and it is likely that there is a vast Zoroastrian underground in the country.